Protect your rear with this ATV differential

When it comes to ATV hardware, you’d like to think your gear will last longer than a cup of coffee. As far as ATV differentials go—thanks to rugged trails, snow and mud, and aggressive riding—they sometimes can leave you stranded. Thankfully, the differential challenge has been resolved by creative engine-uity, courtesy of Jarret Burley, a licensed mechanic and owner of Mud N Wheels, an ATV parts manufacturer in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Back in 2012, Burley was excited to test out his new quad. It didn’t take long for Burley to discover the notorious hassles presented by ATV differential durability. “After a couple hundred miles, the first differential failed,” he said. “A few hundred after that, it happened again. After paying out of pocket for the repairs, it was either fix the issue or sell the machine.”

Burley searched the Internet for answers to no avail. Spurred by frustration, he came up with a remedy to the ATV parts epidemic. “After inspecting the failed parts, I saw some very interesting quality-control issues,” he said. “I developed a way to manage these issues with our custom-built specs.”

As is the case with most problem-solving, it takes trial and error along with a whole lot of patience. “It took me eight tries to get it dialed perfect,” Burley said. “What makes this so interesting is that almost every differential is different. There is no magic formula. It’s more of a procedure that I follow to get to the end result.”

After Burley solved his own differential woes, he decided to try to make a few extra bucks on the side by helping out other riders who had similar issues. Because of the growing demand for his product, he started his company, Mud N Wheels. Three years later, he had enough business to quit his day job to operate Mud N Wheels full time.

New beginnings

Over the years, Burley has fostered a friendship with an ATV Youtube sensation, Ostacruiser. Ostacruiser’s popularity has spread across the globe all the way to Russian ATVers who were looking to ride with the influential rider. “NorthWay ATV Club came to our little piece of ATV heaven and I was lucky enough to be invited,” Burley said. “After talking performance modifications with my new friends, they asked if I would come to Russia to do a big-bore performance motor build. They would not take no for an answer. This was one of the coolest things Mud N Wheels has enabled me to do.”

Aside from travelling the planet to improve ATVs the world over, Burley and Mud N Wheels have big plans in the works. “Over the next few months, we will be taking big steps to expand our operation,” he said. “I can't wait to tell you all about the coming changes as our business continues to evolve and expand.”